opinions from other nationalities?

how do you guys feel about citizens of other counties expressing their opinions of your countries leader, even if you kind of agree.

e.g. i'm an australian who doesn't exactly have the highest opinion of george dubbya, in fact i think he is a blithering idjit in a very dangerous position of power. also i don't exactly agree with everything my own prime minister john howard says or does, he's too conservative and his tongue seems to be stuck firmly up george's ass. but in the up-coming election i'd prefer it if he stayed in powern rather than the other guy winning, as despite his shortfalls, he seems to be doing a good job with our country in the current situation.

however i have heard publicised opinions from other nations criticising thing john howard has done in his own country and not in the international arena and they have made me quite angry, even if i agreed with them, because i felt that the person offering the criticism had no right to pipe up with their two-cents in the public arena.

how do other people feel about this happening to their country's leaders? and does it make any difference if the criticism is of actions in the national sphere or the international sphere?

?

[Edited on Sep 07, 2004 by Dogmai]

Outside opinions are just that, opinions. They don't mean any more or less than the opinions of people within the country. As long as they are well informed, let them express their opinion. And hey, sometimes an outside view on things can be nice.

Heh. Dont flatter yourself by thinking your opinion matters in the least.

heh that is funny. you make me laugh stock. Sometimes you are trying to and other times...

As long as they agree with me, they can express any oppinion they want. If they don't agree with me, then they just need to stay in their second-rate countries affairs.



(hoping the sarcasm does not go unnoticed)

Well whatever.The American president wields an influence across the globe, and foreigners feel somewhat peeved or impotent they have no voice in who is the President. It must piss them off that a unique American political demographic which would be microscopic in their own country can steer electoral outcome in the USA.



[Edited on Sep 07, 2004 by stockula]

the time i was talking about was actually an interview on australian tv so it felt a little closer to home. and i even respected the man who made it a lot (it was micheal moore a few months ago) and have lost no respect for him since the interview.

this is more retrospective curiosity than a rant so its all cool, i'm chilled, i'm relaxed

now fire up some debate!

exactly...the US is probably the most influentual nation in the world at the moment and things that it does can sometimes affect smaller nations (such as us aussies) a great deal and we really worry about that sometimes cos george is in power and we can't vote him out ourselves...

then again i don't have the faintest clue about kerry so after the upcoming us election i have no idea what we are in for

[Edited on Sep 07, 2004 by Dogmai]

heh...sorry

only got this account as few days ago and i haven't had much time to sit around and enjoy it properly yet. tell you what, i'll make a concerted effort to write something in the journal tonight and let the world into my own little microcosm


p.s. i love all these smilies i get to play with

/back to the topic...

[Edited on Sep 07, 2004 by Dogmai]

good point.

why not take it a step further?
Let the whole World vote for the US prez

[Edited on Sep 07, 2004 by FrameOfReference]

You would do well to heed your own advice. Remember one of the first tenants of Buddhism is acknowledging that you are not necessary.

Worst idea ever. The world can have its General Secretary of the United Retards, uh, Nations.

I'll be damned if they have a say in my elections. Unless, of course, they want to surrender their sovereignty to the US in return.

[Edited on Sep 07, 2004 by stockula]

Living in the US you don't hear a lot about leaders of other nations, (except Saddam Hussein and to a lesser extent Tony Blair and a couple others) so I don't really have much opinion on other world leaders.

As for people in other countries having an opinion on Bush....They probably are all thinking what we think of him here....He sucks ass! He is a very poor president, but there seems to be a very good chance he will be re elected anyway.....

I don't mind that people have their opinions on Dubya or U.S. policy and it's within everyone's right to criticize the U.S.

The only thing that annoys me is the occaisional poll of foreigners about our leaders, like the recent one that had Germans picking Bush or Kerry. Why would anyone go to the trouble of conducting a poll among Germans on the U.S. presidential election? And why would we -- Americans -- care? Germany has different interests than we do, and likewise for other foreign nations.

Which unique demographic?

The NRA?
The Right to Lifers?
The Anti-Castro crazies?
The Defense Industry?
The God Squad?
Industrial polluters?

I think they all have a proud role in the unfolding tragedy.

I think the Grand Poobah of Botswana is a dickweed, so if anyone else want's to think my country's leader is a dickweed, more power to them.

Please... I have enough dealing with the asshats that run my country...


Fuckers

*psst* I don't think there is a such thing as a Grand Poobah of Botswana, so way to dig on my face.

I went to grade school with him. He was always putting his mouth on water fountain. Quite dickweedish if you ask me. But if it helps you sleep better at night, I'll start using made up countries.

Like if I were to say I teabagged the Arch-chancelor or YEMEN?

The "American president," eh? Would that be Dubya? Néstor Kirchner? Vincente Fox? Last time I checked, we were just the United States . . . hadn't incorporated all of North, Central, and South America. Yet.

John Howard is a racist right wing Cunt!

Too many quotes back and forth.



Or how about the time the Magistrate of Sierra Leone and I went out tagging our gang signs on highway overpasses.